Street Fighter X Tekken First Week Impressions

Before I get into my thoughts on Street Fighter x Tekken I would like to emphasize that I'll be talking about the game itself rather than the game's unfortunate DLC situation. I'm just as angry about it as everyone else, but I think it's unfortunate that people are choosing not to pick up the game for this reason. I'll get more into that situation another time. If you're looking for more on the DLC woes check my post from last month here. As stated in my previous post I was on the fence about the game, but after having played it I found myself hooked.

Street Fighter x Tekken is obviously an amalgamation of arguably the most popular 2D and 3D fighting game franchises out there. It's also well known that this iteration is meant to play more like the Street Fighter series (with Tekken x Street Fighter releasing in the coming years for the Tekken preferred). So that may leave you wondering, just how well did Capcom do with the 2D portrayal of the Tekken cast?

I'll be the first to tell you that I'm not a Tekken expert whatsoever, but from my experience with the Tekken series I'm confident in saying they did a great job in emulating the Tekken cast into the Street Fighter universe. Sure they don't have their complete move lists (which would be a little absurd for a Street Fighter game) but the essentials and trade mark techniques are in place. Tekken players needn't worry about fireball dominance either as they have many ways to stuff a careless fireballer right in the face, such as Kazuya's mist step techniques.

As for the Street Fighter cast, if you spent much time with the Street Fighter IV series you'll probably feel at home with them right off the bat. Most of their standard links still work the same along with the addition of the new chain system. Cross ups feel different but still effective. Throwing isn't as good as in SFIV, which may be good or bad depending on your preference. For the most part everyone feels arguably better than their SFIV versions.

The netcode needs a bit of work. Sometimes it's pretty flawless, but when you're playing in a huge lobby there seem to be more hiccups than in Street Fighter IV. Most notably are instances of lost inputs and visible roll backs. While not too hindering of gameplay, there's also an issue with the music and sound effects while you're playing online. For some unknown reason the sound will get quiet or even cut out for a few seconds in the heat of a match. I believe Ono has tweeted vaguely that they are working on some sort of patch for this.

I'm having a lot of fun with the game in it's early days. The new focus on offensive play is a refreshing change from SFIV's slower pace. While the netcode could definitely be better I find that it's still very playable.

I believe I've mentioned it in a previous post but I'm currently retired from the tournament scene right now due to more important priorities (my kids!). That being said, I love the game as a fix for the occasional online throw down. Playing co-op with my buddies is a blast.

That being said, I think if you approach the game with the point of view that you just want to have fun with it you wont be disappointed. I think it's safe to say as well that the game will make a viable tournament entry. I still stand with my predictions that there will be future versions of the game (this is Capcom after all, and the DLC on disk has kind of proven it). So I think if you're in to take the game serious you're in for a ride of the game knowledge and financial sorts.

Lastly, if you're still on the fence about it, Red Box it or something. The way Capcom is handling it is very unfortunate but the core game itself is a lot of fun.